Ice Master and Deliverer
by meltedheartofice
Summary: Canonverse post-Frozen 1 story where Elsa and Kristoff meet for the first time.


Elsa was already distracted when she heard the familiar creak of the floorboards outside of her closed door. After all, she thought, how _does_ one begin a first official statement as Queen after a very public disaster just hours after her coronation? After a disaster that led to a magical winter, desertion of her post, treason, and-she shuddered at the thought-the near murder of her only sister?

She set down the frustratingly blank page and went to open the bedroom door. Anna-who, from the sound of it, had been pacing the hallway outside-was poised with her hand raised, about to knock at the door.

"Elsa! Hi. I was just coming to see if you were busy. I mean, you're the queen, I'm sure you're _busy_, but I just thought maybe…"

Elsa smiled at her sister's familiar rambling, but withered at the thought of her trepidation to interrupt. Even after the events of the previous day, when the walls between them had seemed to melt with the kingdom's ice, there was still uncertainty in the way they regarded each other. They were sisters, but practically strangers.

Elsa spoke softly but firmly as Anna began to trail off.

"Anna. It's fine. Come in."

Anna entered the room in a few short, patient strides, but with an almost comical sense of wonder clear on her face. After so many years of secrets, she was finally allowed in.

There wasn't much to see. Elsa's room was as sterile and cold as she had so often felt. Aside from the desk, slightly cluttered with a few small piles of letters, memos, documents, and drafts, it was largely tidy and almost impersonal.

The two stood somewhat awkwardly in the center as Elsa pondered what her sister's impression must be. Finally, Anna broke the silence.

"Can I sit?"

"Yes, of course," Elsa said hurriedly, looking for a chair to offer as her sister jumped onto the large, four-post bed and crossed her legs.

"So, I wanted to talk to you about something. It seems kind of silly with everything that just happened, which is why I didn't want to interrupt. I mean, I already told you about Hans and his plan and what the trolls said and everything that involved the fate of the kingdom, and you handled that pretty well, all things considered, so I probably shouldn't be so nervous even with how you responded the first time I told you about a guy…"

"A guy? Anna, you're not engaged again, are you?"

Elsa's tone was calm, but she couldn't hide her look of concern.

Anna looked shocked at the accusation.

"ENGAGED AGAIN! Ha! No, no no no no. I think I've learned my lesson on that one. Not getting engaged again for a long time, especially to someone I just met!"

While Anna laughed nervously, Elsa continued.

"In that case...what is it that you wanted to discuss?"

"Right. Well. It is about a guy. Kristoff. And...the fact that I may have feelings for him."

Elsa nodded in thought before responding.

"Kristoff...the one who was at the ice castle? Who was there yesterday with the reindeer?"

"Yes! That's Sven." Anna responded.

"Sven? I thought you said Kristoff?"

"Sven is the reindeer. Kristoff is the person."

"Ah. Got it. So you met Kristoff-and Sven-when you were trying to find a way up the mountain?"

"Right. I asked him to take me up in his sled, but then we ran into some wolves, and his sled exploded, and-OH! I owe him a sled!" She turned to Elsa with a nervous look. "I mean, I probably shouldn't be promising sleds to people, you're the queen, that's more under your control, but since he was trying to help-"

"Don't worry. We'll get him a new sled. I owe him for helping you-for helping both of us. And the kingdom."

"Thanks, Elsa." Her face softened with relief before she continued. "So I guess...I wanted to ask one more favor. Could you...talk to him for me?"

"Kristoff?"

"Yes."

"About what?"

"Well...Olaf kind of thinks that he loves me."

"Olaf...thinks…?" Elsa would have to get used to the presence of the somehow sentient snowman.

"When Olaf saw that Kristoff was coming back for me, we thought maybe he could be my 'act of true love'...that's actually why I left the castle. But then you were in danger, and...you know. And I'm not about to jump into anything again. Not that he would want to anyway. I mean, he thought I was crazy for getting engaged to Hans! He didn't exactly _say _'crazy', but he probably thought it. I just want to know...what he's thinking. If he wants to get to know me better. You know?"

Truthfully, Elsa didn't really know. It wasn't as if she had any experience with romantic relationships, or with many relationships of any kind.

She did know that she owed Anna, and that this was the least she could do.

"All right. I'll talk with him. I'm not sure what I'll say though...you have more experience with romantic relationships than I do."

"Well, with the experience I _do _have, no experience is probably better."

Both girls cringed slightly at the thought.

"Oh!" Anna jumped up off the bed. "Could you return his hat to him as well? He gave it to me on the way back to the castle when I was cold."

She ran out to get the hat, leaving Elsa to ponder the task at hand.

She had only really seen Kristoff twice. Both times, he had been trying to save her sister-from Elsa. The thought was painful, and still fresh in everyone's memory. If Anna was nervous about what Elsa would think about Kristoff, Elsa had reason to be equally nervous about what Kristoff might think of her.

In fact, Elsa was still nervous about what _anyone _might think of her. Anna-accepting, forgiving, loving Anna-understood. Would anyone else? How could her kingdom accept her as a ruler, or accept her at all, after what had happened?

She was spared from more of her despairing thoughts as Anna returned with the hat.

"Here you go! You don't have to go right now, of course. But here it is. I heard he was in the stables with Sven, recovering from...everything. I don't know how long he'll stay, but I'm sure you have some time."

Elsa took the hat and steeled herself.

"I'll go now. I've shut myself in this room again for long enough trying to sort everything out-I'll need to remind myself to go outside, now that I can." She smiled softly.

"Right! I've already been around the town this morning. Everyone is so nice and so happy about the summer. There doesn't seem to be much lasting damage or many hard feelings, at least from what I can tell."

This revelation somewhat calmed Elsa, and strengthened her resolve to venture out.

As she strode through the castle halls, greeting those who passed with as much warmth as she could manage, Elsa pondered what she might say. She supposed that "Thank you" would be a good start. "Here's your hat" would make sense, considering that she had his hat.

But how to bring up Anna? Or..._feelings_? She herself could be fairly cold-pun intended-and she found it unlikely that a mountain man whose best friend was a reindeer would suddenly start professing love sonnets when pressed.

At the huge front doors of the castle, Elsa hesitated. All her life, she had been conditioned never to leave. Stepping over that threshold-not under duress, like the past two times-felt unnatural.

Finally, she pushed open the heavy front door and shielded her eyes against the sunlight.

The world outside was beautiful. Bright sun, warm summer breeze, and the sound of birds (what had they done during the sudden winter? She wondered) greeted her instantly.

After a quick moment to take everything in, she began to head toward the stables.

Though she did know the grounds-having viewed them through through the windows and walked them on occasion, but only in winter-it felt odd to walk them alone on her odd sort of mission.

Lost in thought, she reached the stables too soon, and hesitated to collect herself. She heard a voice drifting out from inside.

"...You certainly seem better after some carrots and sleep."

"_But what about Anna?"_

"She's a princess, Sven. She'll be fine. I'm sure she has plenty of things to do, people to care for her...she doesn't need us to intrude."

As she peeked around the entrance to see the source of the conversation, Elsa chuckled at the realization that Kristoff was conversing with a reindeer, having developed a second voice for the animal's thoughts. This was exactly the kind of silliness that Anna would find entertaining.

Kristoff sighed and sat down on a bale of hay while Sven crunched away on carrots. Just as Elsa stood on her toes to see the confused, dejected expression on his face, her foot slipped on loose hay, sending her stumbling forward into the open doorway.

Kristoff started, then jumped up, an even more startled expression on his face.

"Your Majesty!" He gave an awkward sort of bow. "Is...everything all right?"

"Yes! Yes. Perfectly fine. And please, call me Elsa."

Unsure how to proceed, Kristoff nodded curtly. They stood in silence for a moment, taking in the scene. Kristoff cleared his throat.

"Anna...is she...all right?"

"Oh, yes! More than all right. She told me about what happened, and everything that you did. I wanted to thank you for...taking her up the mountain, and down the mountain...to the trolls..._wait. _How did she know about the trolls…?"

Elsa paused unintentionally at the realization of how this part of the story didn't add up.

"She didn't," Kristoff offered, "I did."

Elsa returned her gaze to him.

"The trolls…" he gave an embarrassed laugh. "They kind of raised me. I was an orphan living among the ice harvesters, and one night, I found the trolls...by following a lone trail of ice through the forest on a warm day."

"A lone trail of ice…?" She looked at Kristoff, the question apparent in her eyes.

"I saw the trolls heal a little girl with ice in her head…I figured they could heal her again."

Now, there was no question: it was Kristoff, not Anna, who remembered the girls' first visit to the trolls.

"Thank you. I don't know what she would have done without you."

He gave a sheepish look in response as he turned back to Sven.

"She would have been fine. It's not like there was much I could do. The trolls said only an act of true love could save her...so I brought her back here to Hans. Looks like that didn't work out so well…"

"He tried to leave her for dead, sentence me to death for treason, and claim the kingdom for himself," she recited dryly.

"Ah. So 'not so well' is a bit of an understatement, then."

"When she left the castle in the blizzard...she was looking for you, Kristoff. She saw you come back for her."

At this, Kristoff finally looked up, and somewhere in his face was a cautious sort of hope.

Elsa looked down at her hands, remembering the hat that she had been twisting between them.

"Oh! Here. Anna wanted me to give you your hat."

Elsa crossed the floor of the stables, holding out the grey wool hat, and Kristoff took a couple of strides to meet her before taking it.

"Thanks."

"She would like to see you, you know. To thank you herself. And you are always welcome in the castle."

"Thank you. I appreciate it. Really. I'm not exactly dressed for a castle, though," he laughed.

Elsa chuckled lightly, taking in his appearance. He wore a simple gray shirt-the same one he had worn under a vest when he had chased Anna through a blizzard.

"Right! Your sled was destroyed! You must not have any other clothes! Let me have someone bring you something before you go...where do you live?"

"I...um...around," Kristoff stuttered, bringing a hand to the back of his head. "I harvest and sell ice, so I'm moving around most of the time, especially in the summer. Although you could certainly put me out of a job! That ice castle was...flawless. Very impressive."

_She could put him out of a job...or into one._

Elsa chuckled. "Thank you. In that case, please feel free to stay in one of the spare rooms in the castle-there are plenty-for as long as you'd like."

"Thanks, but Sven and I...we prefer to stay in the stables. It's more what we're used to."

She nodded. After a pause, she decided to take her leave.

"Well. I have some important matters to consider. I'll send Anna down to make some arrangements with you-you are welcome here for as long as you'd like. It was nice to meet you, Kristoff."

"It was very nice meeting you as well...Elsa."

"Oh, and Kristoff?" She had absolutely no idea how to approach this subject, and decided to just go for it. "If you do choose to...court...my sister...I give you my blessing. As long as you don't find her royal title too intimidating."

"Oh!...uh...thank you. Personally, I've never thought that titles really make much of a difference. No offense, of course! I just mean...Anna is an extraordinary person. Princess or not. And you, of course! Not every queen has ice magic."

Elsa gave a genuine smile as she saw the look in his eyes when he talked about Anna. To him, as to Elsa, she was special not because of her birth or her title, but because she was _Anna. _It was the opposite of Hans, who had wanted the title, not the person.

"Very well. Good day, Kristoff."

She took in a deep breath as she turned back to the grounds, soaking in the bright summer sky, drafting her address as she walked.

_Arendelle's near tragedy can be used for her benefit. I have appointed an ice master and deliverer to ensure that Arendelle is able to become an exporter of ice during the summer months, while respecting the long-held traditions of the ice harvesters…._

Elsa's first sight upon walking into the castle was Anna, lingering near the staircase and clearly trying desperately to act casual.

"Elsa! Hi! Did you have a nice walk? The weather is great today, don't you think?"

Elsa smiled knowingly at her sister, ignoring the attempts at small talk.

"So, this Kristoff. He seems nice. And he clearly cares about you. I will look into getting a sled, and I have a couple of other ideas to work out as well."

"Oh, thank you, thank you, _thank you_ for talking to him! Yay! I can handle the sled-I have some experience riding in one, and he really liked his old sled, so I'll make sure I get one that's similar. Would that be all right?"

"Of course. I have enough to work on already anyway. I will authorize the purchase if you can do the rest. Right now, I have a few royal decrees to work on."

"Great! Sorry to interrupt. One more question: How else would you describe Kristoff? One word."

Elsa paused. "Blond?" She chuckled. "Look, I need to go, but I promise to catch up with you later! Go enjoy the sun and open gates!"

Elsa returned to her room with an improved mood. Finally, the decrees she needed to write flowed easily: one ending trade with Weselton (Kai and Gerda had assured her that Arendelle was in a prosperous enough position to do so), one banishing Hans from Arendelle as a result of attempted treason, and one naming Kristoff Bjorgman the official ice master and deliverer-a new position for Arendelle's bright new future.


End file.
